The Truth About Homeopathy, Part 2–Exciting Cause versus Root Cause

Exciting Cause versus Root Cause

How many times have you felt like you have discovered the cause of a particular health problem? You have finally gotten to the bottom of it. This is the root cause, the source of all troubles.

The solution may look something like this:

If I stop drinking bubbly water, my bladder problems will go away.

OR

If I become a vegetarian, that will solve my digestive issues.

OR

If I just eat chocolate a little less often, I can keep my anxiety under control.

OR

If I sleep on my right side, I will sleep better because then I won’t hear my heart beating as I am trying to fall asleep.

OR

If I diffuse Lavender, my anxiety is lessened. (This suggests that you have a deficiency of Lavender currently.)

There are an unlimited number of possibilities we can concoct in our mind as solutions to make our lives better and seemingly improve our health.

In homeopathy, all these “solutions” are referred to as modalities. We ask our clients a number of questions about what makes symptoms better and what makes them worse. They are important in determining the correct remedy.

However, they are a “cause” of sorts. Chocolate could be a cause of your anxiety. Eating meat could cause your digestive issues.

That sort of cause is what is referred to as an “exciting cause.” Moving out of a damp basement when you have asthma, removes the exciting cause. But what it doesn’t address is why do you have the propensity to develop asthma in the first place. THAT is the root cause. The damp basement is the exciting cause.

We can spend the rest of our lives removing exciting causes and chasing down the next one that pops up. When we have surgery to remove an ovary because of ovarian cysts, that removes the exciting cause of ovulation from that ovary. But, the next problem will arise later. It is like a game of whack-a-mole. My experience over and over is that removing exciting causes where we can is an important contribution to long term healing, but does not solve the problem.

Examining the root cause requires an in depth intake interview. Examining how you feel about certain events in your life, how you react to other people, dreams, food cravings, sleep positions, and many other questions help get to the bottom of your problems. Symptoms of your problems come in many forms, some unrelated to what you think your chief complaint is. Signs of the right remedy may arise in an off-hand comment, or a box you check in the intake form.

Homeopathy helps get to the root of the problem. It is a profound form of healing. Anything that only tackles the exciting causes is just a management technique.